Get in My Vagina! Reproductive Legislation and Speculative Disruption

• In Event: Transgression, Gender Disturbance, and Feminist Sci-Fi Futures

Abstract

In the U.S. in the 21st century, women's bodies are situated within a Foucauldian multiplicity of force relations that includes both an amplification of juridic discourse and discursive erasure. Reproductive autonomy is being legislatively eroded at the same time that legislators are censured for using anatomical terms like “vagina.” This paper examines the deployment of language and technology in the tension between discourse and erasure surrounding reproductive health. Media objects for examination include Megan McCafferty’s Bumped YA science fiction series, the operations of the iOS autocorrect feature, and online videos such as FunnyOrDie’s “Republicans, Get in My Vagina!”

Presenter

• Kim Brillante Knight, University of Texas, Dallas